By Hari Prasad, Co-Founder & CEO, Yosi Health

Takeaways from this fall’s USWHA Conference

Our team spent three days at the recent U.S. Women’s Health Alliance Fall Conference in San Antonio, and the exhibit hall made the first impression. It was one of the largest we have seen at USWHA. Lab and genetic testing companies were everywhere. EHR vendors, whose systems these organizations run on every day, were largely absent.

That mix tells you something. Women’s health has become one of the most contested markets in healthcare. But the more important story wasn’t on the exhibit floor. It was in the sessions, where leaders of women’s health organizations talked less about technology and more about how the business itself is changing.

The Service Mix Is Expanding Past OB/GYN

Metabolic health, weight management, GLP-1s, and menopause care came up again and again. One breakout walked through building a metabolic service line in 90 days, covering staffing, workflows, and cash-pay economics. Others focused on direct-to-employer partnerships and on keeping physician-led groups independent and financially sustainable.

The common thread is diversification. Organizations want revenue that doesn’t depend entirely on traditional reimbursement, and they’re building it themselves.

Menopause care has a new tailwind. In November 2025, the FDA removed most of the boxed warnings that had appeared on menopausal hormone therapies since 2002. That warning made many patients wary of treatment for two decades. Expect more of them to come in now, often with questions and expectations already formed. Organizations that capture symptom history and treatment eligibility at intake will turn that demand into visits rather than phone calls.

Every New Service Line Is a New Patient Journey

Growth sounds simple on a strategy slide. Operationally, it multiplies complexity.

A single women’s health organization may now handle annual exams, mammograms, prenatal care, colposcopies, hysteroscopies, surgery, and GLP-1 consults, all under one roof. Each carries its own scheduling rules, intake forms, clinical screeners, and preparation instructions. A mammogram patient needs to know about deodorant and prior imaging. A hysteroscopy patient may need fasting and transportation guidance. A generic reminder serves neither.

Screeners follow the same logic. ACOG recommends screening prenatal and postpartum patients for depression and anxiety with a validated tool. Completed at intake, that screener reaches the care team before the visit instead of on a clipboard in the waiting room.

Payment adds another layer. Elective, fertility-related, and aesthetic services often require a deposit before the appointment is confirmed. When collection happens after booking, staff end up chasing revenue the organization should have secured up front. For self-pay patients, the deposit sits next to a compliance requirement. Under the No Surprises Act, uninsured and self-pay patients are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of expected charges when they schedule care at least three business days in advance or when they ask for one. The estimate, the deposit, and the booking belong in one step, not three. Cancellations create the same drag: when a slot opens at the last minute, someone is working the phones to fill it, and an empty cash-pay appointment is income that doesn’t come back.

Workflows built for one kind of visit don’t stretch to ten.

AI Has to Earn Its Place

AI drew plenty of curiosity, but the conversation has matured. One session focused on using AI in the exam room to improve documentation, support E&M coding, and reduce claim rejections. That’s the right direction. Buyers aren’t asking whether a tool uses AI. They’re asking what problem it solves and what it’s worth. The same test applies outside the exam room, where scheduling, intake, and phone volume are often the first places a lean front office feels the strain.

What Women’s Health Leaders Should Do Next

Treat every growth plan as an operational plan. Before launching a menopause program or a metabolic service line, map what that patient’s journey requires before they walk in: the scheduling rule, the screener, the prep instructions, the deposit. If the answer is “the front desk will handle it,” the new service line will grow at the expense of the ones you already have.

Independent groups won’t out-scale consolidated health systems. They can outperform them by running a complex operation with a lean team.

Want to see how women’s health organizations use Yosi to support new service lines, collect deposits at booking, and send appointment-specific preparation instructions? Contact us for a demo.